K-Pop music album exports hit record high in H1 2023

South Korea's K-pop music album exports achieved a new all-time record in the first half of this year, with shipments to the US rising to second place.

According to the Korea Customs Service, exports of K-pop music albums from January to June reached $132.9 million, representing a 17.1% increase compared to the same period last year.

Japan remained the top market with exports worth $48.5 million, followed by the US with $25.5 million, and China with $22.6 million (28.7 billion won).

China has held the second position after Japan since 2012, excluding 2020. It is noteworthy that the US, the world's largest music market, has risen to second place as a target country for K-pop music album exports.

Particularly significant is the fact that K-pop exports achieved these results despite the limited group activity of BTS, considered the leader of K-pop, in the first half of this year.

BTS member Jimin made history by becoming the first K-pop solo singer to enter the Billboard Hot 100, the main singles chart in the US, with the title song "Like Crazy" from his solo album. Stray Kids and Tomorrow X Together also topped the Billboard 200, the main album chart.

Additionally, besides BTS Jimin and Suga's solo albums, new albums from Seventeen, ATEEZ, and TWICE secured the second spot.

There is also an analysis indicating that K-pop has taken root as a genre in the US. Luminate, an American music market analysis firm, stated in its mid-year report that Korean is the third most-streamed language in the US, following English and Spanish (based on the top 10,000 songs).

Write to Sun A Lee at suna@hankyung.com